Once again politics and religion have reared their heads and are threatening to derail the Philosophical Ethics alternative to SRE in NSW state schools.
A week or so ago Fred Nile from the Christian Democrat Party came out and announced that he would “torpedo” the State Governments industrial relations legislation in the upper house unless philosophical ethics classes were either:
A. Removed from state schools altogether or;
B. Timetabled so as not to clash with SRE.
Needless to say, these two points are easily addressed from an (ahem) ethical point of view. In regards to Fred’s plan A the point is simply put, a Christian Reverend simply has no business telling secular/atheist/other interested parties what they can and can’t discuss during a period of school time reserved for students to learn more about their own parents/families beliefs and values. The plan B suggestion to move the classes to a non-SRE teaching period is just as pointless of course. A constructive alternative to existing non-SRE is not so constructive when it is not offered as an alternative. Continue reading
